Anyone else checked out the announcement today for the N97?

I thought nokia lost theor touch for a bit after the N95. But thank god they came through with this phone. It features a 3.5" touchscreen resistant touchscreen as well as a full qwerty keyboard. Thats gotta fit into a nice niche in the market.

My only gripe is that they didn't improve the camera at all. Still 5 megapixels since the 95. And why not xenon flash? The N82 has it, so theres no excuse. But overall, I think I can finally upgrade from the N95 without regrets.

Specs:
3.5 " screen with 640 x 360 res
32gb onboard memory expandable to 48gb with micro sd
Stereo bluetooth
HSDPA
Stereo bluetooth
5 mega pixel camera w/ Carl Zeiss lens
dual led flash
GPS / A-GPS (with 3d maps)
stereo speakers
battery (replaceable) 4.5 hours video playback, 37 hours music playback
Wi-fi

I saw scratches.

Girl has a cute accent.

When does it come out/when can I buy it?

Q2 2009. It might take awhile to trickle down to the North America though. It will be about 550 Euros unsubsidized. Too bad Nokia doesn't really know how to market their phones in the North American market, or we might just see some awesome plans offered with it.

I'll prolly be a baller and pick up 2 in Hong Kong once I get a job XD

Why would you want more than 5MP? For the sensor size, your only going to kill your low light performance, and it's not like you're going to get 5mp worth of good data anyway.

Personally I really wish they'd make cost effective 3mp point and shoot or cell phone CCD that had decent performance, rather than cramming a zillion pixels in tiny little CCDs.

If only I could justify the $700 pricetag.

In Canada, the N95 8GB is about $100 with contract now.

Well, why settle for less? If they can improve it, then why not? You'll be surprised how capable these phone cameras have come to.

It's easy if you dont have an mp3/video player, gps, phone, camera XD

If they come out with a Zune edition I might have to buy it >.>

Want.

Hey, let's cram a tiny netbook into an iphone, make the interface awful, and charge the same price.

BRILLIANT!

Actually the interface looks pretty good, better than most, and a netbook won't fit in my pocket nor make calls anywhere :p

Iphone in the pocket, netbook in the purse / manpurse / glovebox / briefcase

The iPhone isn't exactly all that much cheaper...

Your right, the iphone is $200, the netbook is $400. You now have 2 specialized devices, that eclipse any and all functionality of the n97, costs $100 less, and works on current US 3g networks, is purchasable now, and will make you look like less of a dork than you will when you pull out the n97.

fishstickz you forgot the part where the iphone is made by apple DUH

I knew this phone was coming about half a year ago Nokia released some very early pictures of what they had already, although nothing of it actually working.

If I wasn't working aboard at the moment I'd probably have got myself an iPhone, although the only thing that bugs me (majorly) is being locked to a certain carrier, yeah sure you can "jailbreak" it but I don't want all the hassle with every software upgrade and paying 600 euro's for an unlocked iPhone from Orange (Fr) is not an option.

I'll wait and see how it fairs once it's had some reviews.

The iPhone is NOT $200. It's $200 subsidized. An unlocked iPhone without a contract costs around $700. And I'd hardly say the iPhone beats the N97 when it doesn't even have proper bluetooth (headset support only) or GPS. Or video recording. Or a decent camera with flash. Or a keyboard. Or bigger disk space. And the N97 supports just as many US networks as the iPhone does really.

so... dont buy it unlocked?

Or just get an unlocked 2G iPhone on eBay for half that of an unlocked 3G iPhone.

That's the first Nokia I've seen that doesn't look horrid since the days of the 3310.

I could say the same for the Nokia?

Exactly.

It looks rather spiffy in the video. I wonder what kind of battery life it gets, though, as I fear it might be a problem.

According to Nokia's spec PDF:

Talk time:Up to 320 min (3G), 400 min (GSM)
Standby time:Up to 400 hrs (3G), 430 hrs (GSM)
Video playback:Up to 4,5 hours (offline mode)
Music playback:Up to 37 hours (offline mode)

My thoughts exactly, good sir.

The Nokia N97 is cool for it's pop out keyboard thing. I don't like touchscreens much, but it'll be fun to use some time. Not like the iPhone where the whole input interface is touchscreen.

Looks pretty cool, but only like 1% of the people who buy that for $700 will use it for anything other than texting and taking pictures of their nosehair and watching Beverly Hills Chihuahua and other things that shouldn't be worth $700. But that would be uncapitalistic/unamerican of me to criticize another person's valuation of the dollar, so I will end my scathing rant by saying fancy cellphones are dumb

I always wonder why people love to sign themselves away for three years. Last time I checked, the contract that comes with the Iphone will run you well over $1000 by the time your free again.

I agree for the most part. I see waaay too many girls here using the N95. All they know how to do is use the camera and call. Such a waste of the phone. But fancy cellphones aren't exactly dumb. I can drop a divx file onto my phone and watch away on the run. If thats not enough, I got 6 seasons of family guy and the two movies for backup. Or maybe just msn or surf the net when im waiting in line. I always thought that I would like a slim phone with form over function. But damn was I missing out. Waiting ever since hasn't been more fun.